Review - - The True Cowboy of Sunset Ridge

The True Cowboy of Sunset Ridge

by Maisey Yates

Gold Valley - Book 14

Publisher: HQN

Release Date: December 28, 2021

Reviewed by PJ

When a bull-riding champion is left holding his friend’s baby, could it be time to put down roots in Gold Valley?

Midwife Mallory Chance is ready for a fresh start in Gold Valley. And when she locks eyes with a handsome cowboy across the saloon, it feels like fate. After too many years wasted on her cheating ex, good girl Mallory is ready to cut loose and prioritize herself. But when the dust settles on their hot night together, it turns out that her mysterious one-night cowboy is none other than her new landlord—and someone she’ll be seeing very regularly around Gold Valley.

Bull rider Colt Daniels has a wild reputation, but after losing his friend on the rodeo circuit, he's left it all behind. If only he could walk away from his guilt as easily…or the temptation of Mallory. He can’t offer her the future she deserves—what does a cowboy with a heart as damaged as his know about forever? Then his friend's tiny daughter ends up in Colt's care. Colt has never wanted to rely on anyone, but he needs Mallory's help taking care of the baby he's beginning to love as his own. But is it all still temporary, or is it their chance at a forever family?

PJ's Thoughts:

This final book in the Daniels family subset of Maisey Yates' Gold Valley series just may be my favorite of the entire series. I fell hard for Colt and Mallory, with them every step of the way from that first life-altering gaze across a crowded bar, to their set-the-sheets-on-fire hookup six months later, and through their heart-tugging journey to a hard-earned happily ever after. I've read their story twice. I have no doubt I'll probably revisit it again.

Yates' complex characters are the heart of her stories and one of the facets I most enjoy about her writing. In this book, she digs deep into the souls of both Mallory and Colt, characters with flaws, layers, and a multitude of emotional baggage. I love the evolution they both undergo; the growth they achieve by facing their emotional demons, learning from them, letting go of them, and finally, whole-heartedly, moving forward. I enjoyed the connections with the members of the Daniels and Chance families, the threads that weave within and around Mallory and Colt's story, and the relationships that shift, expand, and heal. And then there's Lily, the sweet baby who shows up unexpectedly and opens their hearts to unconditional love and possibilities. So many feels. When I reached the final page all I wanted to do was go back to the beginning and read it again, tears and all. So I did. This one's a keeper. 

Yates has written The True Cowboy of Sunset Ridge in a way that it can be enjoyed as a standalone, however, if you prefer to read books in order, the Daniels family titles are listed below.  

The Bad Boy of Redemption Ranch (Pansy and West)

The Hero of Hope Springs (Ryder and Sammy)

The Last Christmas Cowboy (Rose and Logan)

The Heartbreaker of Echo Pass (Iris and Griffin)

Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch (Jake and Callie)

Tour Review - - Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch

 

Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch

by Maisey Yates

Gold Valley Novels - Book 13

Publisher: HQN

Release Date: October 26, 2021

Reviewed by PJ

 

Gold Valley’s rodeo champion is facing the toughest challenge of his life – a Christmas wedding!

Legendary bull-rider Jake Daniels has only one plan this holiday season – to ignore the pain it always brings. Until his best friend Callie Carson shows up on his ranch with a marriage proposal! Jake has lived so close to the edge it’s a miracle he’s still alive – he knows all about risk. But marrying the woman he craves more than anything feels like the biggest risk of all.

Callie Carson might be rodeo royalty, but to fulfil her dreams of riding saddle bronc, she needs her inheritance. And to access that, she needs a husband. But Jake the husband is deliciously different from Jake the friend, especially after the wild heat of their wedding night! He was only supposed to be her cowboy for Christmas, but Jake’s every heart-stopping touch has Callie questioning how she’ll ever be able to walk away…

PJ's Thoughts:

I can always count on Maisey Yates for sizzling, emotional, heart-tugging reads and Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch is no exception. This friends-to-lovers, marriage-of-convenience story grabbed me from the start and held me captive right up to the sigh-worthy end.

I was a little concerned in the early stages of this book that Yates might take it old school, with an older, alpha, my-way-or-the-highway hero and a young, inexperienced, no-agency heroine. Happily, she chose a different path, giving Callie a significant growth arc, allowing her to evolve into an equal partner in their relationship, learning lessons along the way but also using the wisdom she gains. I loved her hard-earned confidence, how she was willing to fight her family for her dreams, and the stand she took to bring Jake out of the darkness.

Like his cousins (Gold Valley - Books 9-12), Jake carries deep emotional baggage from the tragic accident that claimed their parents' lives when he was a teen, baggage that has guided his relationships (or lack thereof) ever since. Callie is his dearest friend and has been since she was a young girl but she's all grown up now and inciting feelings that have him running. This is very much a journey of growth for Jake as well. Yates guides him through a difficult, at times, heartrending, journey of self-forgiveness, acceptance, and understanding on his way to a well-deserved happy ending.

If you enjoy sexy, emotional, and a bit angsty, friends-to-lovers romance with snappy banter, complicated family dynamics, significant character growth, and well-deserved happy endings, give this one a try. Also, don't be put off by the fact that it's the 13th book of a series. You'll meet characters from books 9-12 of the series, but this one works well as a standalone.

~~~~~~~~~

Buy Links: 

BookShop.org

Harlequin 

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s 

Social Links:

Author Website

Facebook: @MaiseyYates.Author

Instagram: @maiseyyates

Twitter: @maiseyyates

Goodreads

Maisey Yates is a New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred romance novels. Whether she's writing strong, hard working cowboys, dissolute princes or multigenerational family stories, she loves getting lost in fictional worlds. An avid knitter with a dangerous yarn addiction and an aversion to housework, Maisey lives with her husband and three kids in rural Oregon.

Review, Q&A, and Giveaway - - Cowboy Christmas Redemption

Cowboy Christmas Redemption
by Maisey Yates
A Gold Valley Novel  
Publisher: HQN
Release Date: September 24, 2019
Reviewed by PJ
    

Cowboy Caleb Dalton has loved single mom Ellie Bell, and her little daughter, Amelia, for years. But since Ellie is his best friend’s widow, Caleb’s head knows Ellie will always be strictly off-limits. If only his heart got the memo. So when Caleb discovers that Ellie has a Christmas wish list—and hopes for a kiss under the mistletoe—he’s throwing his cowboy hat into the ring. If anyone’s going to be kissing Ellie and sharing this magical time with her and her daughter, it’s him.

Ellie has dreaded the holidays since losing her husband. But this year, she’s finally ready to make some changes. She never expects the biggest change to be the heart-stopping kiss she shares with Caleb. For almost five years, Caleb has been her best friend, her rock, her salvation. This Christmas, can Caleb prove he’s also the missing puzzle piece of Ellie’s and Amelia’s hearts?

My thoughts:

Friends to lovers is one of my favorite romance tropes and this newest addition to Maisy Yates' Gold Valley series brings all the feels. Though Caleb and Ellie have been best friends for years, the mass of intermingled emotional baggage they both carry has kept them from moving beyond friendship. Until Ellie finally decides to move forward with her life...and Caleb isn't about to let her move on with anyone but him. It makes for a complex, emotional journey that made me laugh, cry, and tingle in all the best ways. 

Yates does a great job of bringing her characters to life and immersing me in their journey. I could feel all the doubts, desire, and guilt that Caleb and Ellie have to wade through. My heart ached for the pain caused by the secrets Caleb has kept from his family, and Ellie, and rejoiced in the forgiveness and acceptance that follow when he finally shares them. 

Ellie and Caleb have been tested by the flames of emotional fire, from which they emerged stronger and wiser, with a solid foundation of friendship and love. I turned the final page of their story confident in the strength of their bond and their future happiness as a family. 

I can't wait to return to Gold Valley for more Dalton family stories!

Q&A with Maisey Yates

Hi Maisey! Thanks so much for visiting with us today. I’ve been eagerly anticipating Caleb's, Ellie's, and little Amelia’s story and you did not disappoint, taking me on a journey filled with both laughter and tears. Which scene(s) in this book did you have the most fun writing? Which was the most difficult?

Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the book. I think my very favorite scene to write was that first kiss. Caleb has so much passion built up inside of him and I loved when it just exploded. As far as difficult scenes go, definitely anything at the end, prior to them figuring out they loved each other. Ellie is so wounded, and trying so hard to do the right thing, and her grief was tricky to navigate, but very, very rewarding!

Best-friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite tropes. What is it about this trope that appeals to you as an author? 

I love it because I relate to it. My husband and I were friends before we got together, and there’s something that I like about suddenly seeing a person you’ve known for a long time in new way. (this is why I also like the best friend’s little sister trope a lot!)

What’s next from Maisey Yates? 

A COWBOY FOR ALL SEASONS is out February 24^th 2020, and I’m so excited about that book. It’s a project I worked on with three of my best friends – Caitlin Crews, Nicole Helm and Jackie Ashenden – about four cousins who each spend a season in their late grandmother’s farmhouse and find healing and love with a handsome cowboy. J Then in May my first Women’s Fiction, SECRETS FROM A HAPPY MARRIAGE is coming out. It’s different for me, but also still very much a Maisey Yates book. It’s about forgiveness, healing, a historic lighthouse, and family, with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure.

Let’s do a fun five!

Favorite Halloween candy: Snickers

Dogs or cats (or something else): I would really like a pet raccoon, but I could only ever have one if there happened to be an orphaned one that needed to be cared for, but I would take it in a second!

Favorite sound that soothes your soul: Is it weird to say Dierks Bentley? If so, then I’m weird.

Favorite fall comfort food: I’m not going to lie, it’s for sure pumpkin spice everything.

Last book that kept you reading past your bedtime: Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore.

Thank you for visiting with us, Maisey!  Do you have anything else to add? Would you like to ask our readers a question?

I told you a couple of my favorite tropes, what are yours?


One randomly chosen person who comments before 11:00 PM, September 28, will receive a copy of Cowboy Christmas Redemption.


*Winner must be 18 or older.
*Limited to U.S. and Canada only.

Review Tour - - A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas

A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas 
by Maisey Yates
Gold Valley - Book 4
Publisher: HQN
Release Date: October 1, 2018
Reviewed by PJ

It’s Christmas in Gold Valley, and this wounded widower is about to get another shot at love…

Grant Dodge didn’t expect to find a woman sleeping in an abandoned cabin on his family ranch. Or to find her so intriguing. Unlike every other woman in town, McKenna Tate doesn’t know Grant’s a widower. There’s no pity in the looks she gives him. McKenna wants him, and Grant has forgotten what it’s like to feel like a man. A no-strings fling for Christmas might be the kind of holiday cheer Grant needs…

With only a suitcase to her name, McKenna came to Gold Valley to confront her birth father. She didn’t plan to work at the Dodge ranch or fall for the gorgeous cowboy who keeps his heart roped off. But there’s no denying the way their broken pieces fit together. Hope brought her to Gold Valley—but will it be the gift that could finally heal Grant, and McKenna’s own wounded heart?


My Thoughts:

I knew as soon as I met grouchy, closed off, emotionally wounded Grant Dodge in an earlier book that I wanted to read his story. I also knew that the woman to bring him back to life would need to be strong, sassy, and unwilling to take his crap. McKenna Tate is all that and so much more.

I loved these two together. Life hasn't been kind to either of them though the experiences that brought them to this point in their lives were very different.  Those experiences have toughened them but they have also left them vulnerable and hesitant to reach for happiness. McKenna is prickly and defensive while Grant has become an emotional hermit, finding solace in a bottle all too frequently. McKenna's inability to give up hope in the face of too many rejections endeared her to me while Grant's struggle to find an identity apart from the sympathy and pity tied to his past struck a chord of realism in light of my own life experiences. The attraction between Grant and McKenna is potent yet both resist its emotional pull initially and Grant, for much longer. Yates does an outstanding job of guiding them along their sizzling sexual and heart-tugging, emotional journey and I was with them every step of the way.

Maisey Yates has created an intriguing community of characters within her Gold Valley series of books, many of whom weave in and out of this story. The book is written in such a way that a new reader shouldn't be lost but I do think readers will have a deeper understanding of all characters, and their actions, if they have read the three previous Gold Valley books. I loved each and every one of them. The books, in order, are: Smooth-Talking Cowboy, Untamed Cowboy, Good Time Cowboy, and A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas.


Have you read any of Maisey Yates' books? 

Do you have a favorite Gold Valley couple?

A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas is my first Christmas romance of the season. When do you begin reading holiday romances?



Giveaway:

One randomly chosen person who leaves a comment before 11:00 PM (EST), September 25 will receive a print copy of A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas.
U.S. / Canada only

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Maisey Yates

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit.

In 2009, at the age of twenty-three Maisey sold her first book. Since then it’s been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard. She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world.

Connect with Maisey

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Instagram tour:

Monday, September 24th: @girlandherbooks

Tuesday, September 25th: @booknerdingout

Wednesday, September 26th: @book_hangover88

Thursday, September 27th: @oddandbookish

Thursday, September 27th: @jesssiereads

Friday, September 28th: @brokenteepee

Saturday, September 29th: @radbabesread

Sunday, September 30th: @remarkablylisa

Review tour:

Monday, September 24th: The Romance Dish

Tuesday, September 25th: What is That Book About – excerpt

Wednesday, September 26th: Book Fidelity

Thursday, September 27th: Reading Reality

Thursday, September 27th: @dreaming_of_stories

Friday, September 28th: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Monday, October 1st: Moonlight Rendezvous

Tuesday, October 2nd: Written Love Reviews

Wednesday, October 3rd: omg.kacie.reads and @omg.kacie.reads

Thursday, October 4th: A Holland Reads – excerpt

Monday, October 8th: Books & Spoons

Tuesday, October 9th: Into the Hall of Books

Wednesday, October 10th: Stranded in Chaos

Thursday, October 11th: Book Reviews and More by Kathy – excerpt

Friday, October 12th: Crystal Blogs Books

Friday, October 12th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Monday, October 15th: From the TBR Pile

Tuesday, October 16th: Becky on Books

Wednesday, October 17th: Jathan & Heather

Thursday, October 18th: Evermore Books

Friday, October 19th: Books and Blends